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BCGEU Faculty Members Ratify Agreements

Provincial Government Issues Press Release

On July 14 the Provincial Government issued the below press release for distribution to the media under the headline: "BCGEU faculty at Okanagan and Selkirk Colleges ratify agreements."

More than 500 BCGEU faculty members at Okanagan and Selkirk Colleges have ratified new agreements under the B.C. government's 2014 Economic Stability Mandate.

Following local ratification by union members and college boards, the Post-Secondary Employers' Association board provided the final ratification for the settlements between Okanagan College and the BCGEU Local 707, as well as between Selkirk College and the BCGEU Local 709.

The terms of the new agreements for the faculty unions are from April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2019. The agreements provide for a modest 5.5% wage increase over the five years of the term, with potential for additional increases if the B.C. economy exceeds the annual forecasts set by the Economic Forecast Council during the last four years of the agreement.

More than 150,000 public-sector employees are now covered by tentative or ratified agreements under the Economic Stability Mandate. Overall, this represents about half of all unionized public-sector employees in B.C.

The government's Economic Stability Mandate provides public-sector employers the ability to negotiate longer-term agreements within a fixed fiscal envelope, and offers employees an opportunity to participate in the province's economic growth through the Economic Stability Dividend. Settlements are expected to be unique and to reflect priorities negotiated to ensure labour stability and affordable service delivery throughout B.C.

Quick Facts:

The new 2014 Economic Stability Mandate applies to all public-sector employers whose collective agreements expired on or after Dec. 31, 2013.

If the province's real GDP growth exceeds forecasts over the terms of the agreement, the agreement provides for the sharing of some benefits of that growth with the public-sector employees who work on behalf of British Columbians and help make that growth possible.

Under this proposal, employees would receive a conditional, incremental wage increase equal to half of any percentage-point gain in real GDP growth above the Economic Forecast Council's forecast published in the February budget.

For example, if real GDP growth is one percentage point above forecast real GDP growth, then a 0.5% wage increase would result, beyond whatever wage increase had been negotiated in the contract.